Post-WW2 Americans impressed by Germany's Autobahn began to construct modern highways, opening up the vast interior of the United States for the average middle-class driver. The "romance" of getting in the car and seeing America's stunning geography was Dad's dream and Mom's nightmare, but with the ROADS TO ROMANCE series of shorts that promote Chevrolets, you can take the family on scenic roadtrips without whining kids, negotiating rest stops, or spending the night in a cheap motel. The best part is Dad never has to stop to ask directions....

This film has four roadtrips: Oak Creek Canyon may be a smaller cousin to the Grand Canyon, but it's red cliffs can be seen entirely by car from Highway89, Arizona's first official scenic highway! There are indian ruins and old West towns too.... Next trip is California's famous coastal highway: State Route 1, featuring the mission at San Luis Obispo, San Simeon (Hearst Castle), and a big rock at Moral Bay where Dad finally stops the car and lets the kids out to run and climb.... Next trip finds romance along the "engineering genius" of the Cabrillo Freeway. Completed in 1948 it winds through Balboa Park and was the first parkway in San Diego county. We follow a newlywed couple as they visit the Hotel del Coranado, San Jacinto valley, and the ruins at Capistrano in a convertible Chevrolet. Ahh, the highway IS the destination... Our last roadtrip is to ho-hum Western Michigan "Queen of the Great Lakes" where we visit a tulip festival and see a Dutch parade, then we follow the highways along 3000 miles of coastal beaches, sand dunes, and forests.

The film and sound quality of these shorts is poor, and the discussion of the sites is minimal, but each vacation contains some truely amazing sights and anyway they last like 3 minutes so what are you complaining about?

Set of 4 Road To Roamnce films, which were made by Jam Handy to a) get people exploring America and B) buy more chevrolets.
The first clip is all about the Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona. The color is just a little faded, so it's not as spectacular as it should be. Nice shots though of the canyon, and of the Montezuma historical monument.
Second is of San Luis Obispo in California, which offers a nice tour of the town, and it's missions, and also goes out to check out Laurel (Moral?) Rock. (check out the boy model).
Thirdly comes San Diego. We DON'T get Sea World (which I don't think had opened yet) or the Zoo (ditto) but we do get a nice glimpse of Coronado, and some tourist stops. (Another Mission?)
Finally, we change narrators (which narrates much less 'romantically' and a lot more 'family-friendly' when we explore that highly romantic spot, Western Michigan. We and a family go to a Tulip festival, Glen Lake and Dune Country! Woo exciting!

When I type all of this, it's pretty amazing how little and yet how much Jem Handy squeezed in to each of these 4 minute segments. Pretty good!